Incognito
by flippednique
Summary: AU: NaruSasu. Naruto hasn't been in Japan for so long. When FUGE calls him out of hiding, he's asked to go undercover. Mission info: Namikaze is the heir of Rasengan Inc. and has currently disappeared off the radar. Without any leads, anyone could be a suspect.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **So this is a big story for me. I really like how it's coming out during my plotting. Most things will be quite obvious, and I'm pretty sure when stuff gets revealed you guys would have already known it by then, but I still hope you'll keep with me.

There is the use of Tagalog slang here. If you use Google Translate I'm not sure it'll come out properly so there'll be a glossary of sorts at the end of the chapters unless context clues would have made it obvious just what was being said.

**EDIT:** I replaced the dividers with the ".x." because sometimes the lines don't show up which sort of annoys me cause I need them to separate the scenes.

* * *

Narita airport was a lot less crowded than expected, but maybe that was for the best. Navigating around the huge place was hard enough without having to apologize every two seconds for bumping into someone's cart or worse actually knocking someone over.

Naruto waited for the carousel to get a move on so he could grab his modest suitcase and box, his orange worn duffle bag strap over his chest and hanging by his waist. The flight had been a very long four hours as he never really fancied planes. He was a walk-whenever-you-can-get-away-with-it kind of guy and so he really hated being suspended in a huge metal container for the better part of the afternoon no matter how often he rode them.

And now he just wanted to lie down.

"Excuse me," a soft voice called. "Is this for the Manila flight?"

Naruto nodded his head and explained that it was taking a while and his conversation partner, a true Japanese beauty, thanked him.

"I'm Naruto." He finally said after a moment of silence.

The woman's cheeks flushed, a hand sweeping to push back dark locks. "I'm Hyuuga Hanabi."

"Nice to meet you Hanabi-san." The suffix had been added as an afterthought. Hanabi seemed to have caught his hesitation and he rubbed his head, messing up his blonde hair even more. "I'm sorry. I'm not very good with Japanese customs."

"I see." Hanabi smiled. "I must admit I find that hard to believe. You have a Japanese name and… well, yes the blonde hair."

"Spanish blood." Naruto admitted. "Born here though and to keep close contact with my Dad I had to learn the language. Was raised around the world though. It's my first time back in the land of the rising sun after twelve years."

"So long?" Hanabi asked.

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, I know it's weird. I'm Japanese but… not really Japanese."

"You could have fooled me, Naruto-san." Hanabi noted. "You actually remind me of someone."

"Oh?" Naruto's eyebrow raised but he was more focused on the now circling carousel, blue eyes spotting the retina melting orange that was his suitcase. He reached out a hand and dragged it away from the conveyor belt and to the cart by his side. "Pray tell, who?"

Hanabi pursed her lips. "It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember."

Naruto heaved his box out of the conveyor belt as well. He double checked the ropes and the name before he straightened up and grinned at Hanabi. "Too bad. I'd like to know who it was I reminded you of."

"Indeed." Hanabi nodded. She turned away from Naruto, reaching a hand out to a box the size of a birthday cake. She cradled it in her hands for a moment before discretely slipping it into Naruto's cart. "I'll see you around Naruto-san."

"I'm sure you will." Naruto nodded his head before he pushed on the cart and made his way outside. He could see everyone lining up for the trains before they could get a taxi to Tokyo but his phone vibrated.

The text message said that he didn't need to get on the trains. Someone would pick him up and take him straight to headquarters.

"You better not be late Scarecrow." Naruto muttered as he flipped his phone shut. His eyes turned skyward and he inwardly cursed the ominous dark clouds. Just his luck he'd arrive the day Japan lets loose a rain shower.

**Beep beep.**

The small Honda that pulled up in front of him had Naruto breathing in relief and heading to the back where the trunk was open. He heaved the suitcase, then the box before shoving the cart away.

The front door opened when he rounded up to it and he slid inside, leather melting the tension in his back as he sagged tiredly. The driver put the car into gear and trailed away from the airport, taking a different route than the trains.

Naruto looked towards his window, watching as rain drops pelted against it as the downpour began. He let it wash over him, the sound of water hitting glass before he turned away and looked at the man beside him, taking in the spiked hair and red flushed cheeks.

"How was the flight?"

"Long." Naruto shook his head. "You haven't changed a bit Kiba."

"Neither have you." Kiba tapped the steering wheel as he drove, neither minding the silence. The man jerked his head. "What's in the box?"

"Intel." Naruto opened said box and rummaged through it for a while. "Who's Hanabi?"

"Hinata's little sister." Kiba turned. "She's new but she's good."

"Sloppy." Naruto clicked his tongue. "She told me her last name. She shouldn't have done that."

"She knew who you were." Kiba defended. "There was no need to hide anything. Besides, she had to say something for you to trust her."

"Her eyes were enough proof." Naruto murmured absentmindedly. He pulled out a stack of photos. "Who is this guy and why is he so important you guys had to pull me out of hiding?"

Kiba whistled. "I sent you details on why we called you back. Didn't you read the email?"

"No."

"Figures." Kiba sighed. "His name is Namikaze Menma. He's the son of Namikaze Minato and the sole heir of Rasengan Corporations after his father decides to retire, which shouldn't be too long."

"What's wrong with him?" Naruto asked.

"He's missing." Kiba again began tapping the steering wheel. "Just wasn't at home one day but everything he owned was there. The kid didn't run away so we can assume that it was a kidnapping."

"'Assume'." Naruto echoed. "Why not declare?"

"Well," Kiba shrugged his shoulders. "There is someone who would be stupid enough to kidnap one of Japan's well known heirs but he's being monitored very closely. He hasn't done anything to make Menma disappear."

"So the kid's made himself invisible." Naruto pulled out more papers. "Why isn't there a picture of him in here?"

Kiba pulled a quick left turn and jerked his head. "Look at the bottom of the box."

Naruto complied and rummaged through the papers and files. He came across something soft and he pulled it out. "A wig?"

"Put it on." Kiba nodded. He then opened the glove compartment and handed Naruto the mirror in it. "Menma isn't a kid Naruto. He's twenty-two, our age."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Anyone's who's a spoiled brat raised by parents who do nothing but shower them with money is a kid to me. No upgrading from that status until they can stand in front of me and prove to me just how long they can stand on their own two feet."

Kiba chuckled as Naruto took the mirror from him and looked into it. He looked good with black hair, maybe. Kiba marveled at such a resemblance before he pulled out the only photograph he had of Menma and passed it on to his friend. "Prepare to act like a spoiled brat then. You're going undercover."

"_Punyeta._" Naruto breathed with much feeling, ripping the black wig off of his head. "None of you said anything about going undercover."

"Why exactly did you think we wanted you back here?" Kiba asked. "If we needed your opinion you could have sent it to us through the number. You're the ideal man for this mission Naruto, you really do look exactly like him."

Naruto turned his head. "I am not talking to you."

"You will eventually." Kiba chirped. "Honestly Naruto, like you said he's a spoilt brat. Just bear the pain and suffering of having to live in a mansion for the next few months or so."

"Months?" Naruto cried.  
"Well I assume he'll show up at some point." Kiba murmured. "Whether as a corpse or as a missing person I'm not sure."

"You owe me big Kiba." Naruto growled. "Really, really big."

Kiba simply nodded. "Lighten up Naruto. Just think of it as if you're participating in the Ms. Congeniality."

"Shut up." Naruto huffed. "Gracie Hart did an amazing thing for the United States."

"She posed as a beauty contestant, big whoop." Kiba snorted.

"She snuck bagels in her bra and gave up eating donuts." Naruto glared. "Respect."

.x.

When Naruto entered Fuge he was met with warm smiles and good cheers all around. People were clasping him on the back and asking how he's been since the last time they'd seen him. Which when he thought about it, was a good six-seven years ago.

"We definitely have to hang out when you're free!" Asa cried, big gold eyes disarming Naruto for a moment.

Kiba, sensing Naruto's inward panic, tossed an arm around the blonde and grinned at the admiring ravenhead. "He'll get back to you on that Sugiyama, Naruto's a bit tired already. He needs sleep."

"O-Oh, of course!" Asa lowered his head, cheeks flushing. "Sorry. Should have thought about that."

"That's okay." Kiba soothed patronizingly before steering Naruto the other way and towards the dorms. "Sheesh, you'd think he'd get over that crush he has on you."

"I don't even know what I did to him." Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair. If there was one thing that Naruto hated, it was making it seem like he was leading people on. It was a sort of hero-worship, Asa's admiration went a little too far.

_"My hair is blonde, my eyes are blue, I get the ladies, and all the guys too~!"_

"Shadup!" Naruto laughed as he tried to get out of the headlock Kiba now had him in. They stumbled through the hallway, the brunette suddenly dislodging him so that he promptly fell into the mahogany door that marked his room.

"Get some sleep." Kiba huffed, tossing Naruto his room keys then turning on his heel and walking back to where he assumed was his own room.

Naruto watched him disappear into the corner before taking in a deep breath. It was slowly sinking in, that he was back in Japan and back in Fuge. He opened the door and walked inside, habit forcing him to toss his keys to his left where his desk caught them.

Nothing had changed. The living area of the room had that distinct look of not being touched despite the fact that it had been cleaned before his arrival. The spiral staircase beckoned him forward and his body begged for respite and to sleep in a bed that it knew was just thirty steps away.

But before he could even make the first of those thirty steps, the door that lead to the bathroom opened and out stepped a man that had Naruto's spirits wakening despite his tiredness.

"Welcome home, Naruto." Iruka smiled warmly at his adopted son, enjoying the way the blonde's face lit up at his entrance. More so, he enjoyed the way Naruto threw himself around the sofa into his arms, nearly toppling them over. "Oof- You've gotten so big, I think you could tackle me down now!"

"Yeah." Naruto chuckled, burying his face into Iruka's shoulder. "I've missed you so much Iruka! You have no idea how long I've wanted to see you. Why couldn't you come to the Philippines? Tsunade would have been glad to have you! _Sigurado ako doon_."

Iruka returned the chuckle and pulled Naruto towards the staircase, wheezing a bit at how he practically leaned into him. "It's not like I could drop everything and traipse to the Southeast of Asia, Naruto. You know how busy Fuge has Kakashi and me."

"A few weeks, heck I'd settle for days." Naruto pouted as he led the way up the stairs. He continued his huffing when he'd opened the door and practically threw himself into his four poster bed. No matter that Fuge was in Japan, so many agents were practically foreigners, they needed to keep things at a standard.

"Would it help if I said I was sorry?" Iruka murmured as he moved around the room, closing the blinds and tweaking the air condition.

"Maybe." Naruto smiled as he huddled underneath the blankets. "It's so freaking cold here in Japan."

"It's just hot in the Philippines." Iruka said, reaching a hand out to pat Naruto's blankets down. "You've really gotten so big Naruto. I know I see your pictures and all that but it's different when it's in person."

"I know." Naruto murmured sleepily. He shook his head, trying to clear it. "Uh… how are you and Kakashi doing again?"

"Fine." Iruka answered, settling down on the chair beside Naruto's bed. "He and I are thinking of adopting."

"Well that woke me up." Naruto choked. "Adopting? What, a cat?"

Iruka narrowed his eyes. "No. A child."

"A child." Naruto echoed shaking his head again. "Are you sure you're ready for that? I mean, you maybe _pero _Kakashi…"

"He can be a pretty good father you know." Iruka chided. "Look at how well he did with you. Not to mention the dozen or so god children he has. He's done great with them too."

"Name one god child!" Naruto demanded as he looked at Iruka with narrowed eyes.

"Well there's Sasuke for one." Iruka hummed thoughtfully. "There's also Itachi but he doesn't count because Kakashi isn't his official godfather."

Naruto closed his eyes and nuzzled further. "Am I supposed to know those people?"

"You…" Iruka took in a deep breath. "You didn't read the files did you?"

"Too lazy." Naruto grumbled.

Iruka rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised? Never mind. You'll get to know them soon enough. I assume you at least know what you're doing back at Fuge?"

"Impersonating some spoiled brat who thought it would be cool to go poof on his family." Naruto deadpanned, his eyes now firmly shut.

"Good enough." Iruka smiled before he stood up smoothed back the blonde tresses that were flattened down on Naruto's forehead. He then checked the timer on the air conditioner to stop in three hours since that would mean the room would be cold enough not to need it.

When he got downstairs, Iruka took in the present smell of brewing tea and spices wafting from the kitchen area. He crossed his arms over his chest. "He's sleeping."

"Oh? I'll keep it warm for him then." Kakashi looked over his shoulder, eye smiling. The scars that ran deep on his lovers face never deterred Iruka from loving him, but he respected Kakashi's choice to hide them from the rest of the world who couldn't understand.

"He's so grown up now." Iruka commented as he settled himself on a chair. "He's taller than I am, maybe even taller than you."

"It's a part of growing up Iruka." Kakashi hummed and placed a soft kiss on the brunette's head. "He's still got a lot more to go though, so come help me make dinner."

"It's three o'clock in the afternoon." Iruka shook his head.

"It's five o'clock somewhere." Kakashi promised as he pulled Iruka off the chair and towards the stove.

There was a moment of slicing and dicing as the noodles boiled and Kakashi was having a bit of liberty with how spicy their food was getting before Iruka slapped his hand away and took over before Kakashi leaned back and said, "Are you thinking about the accident again? You know that that's all in the past right?"

"I can't help it." Iruka sighed right back. "What person would leave a child like Naruto on the road, scared and alone?"

"We've discussed this before." Kakashi reminded patiently. "What if he wasn't left behind? What if he was taken from his family?"

Iruka's entire being bristled. "Then why didn't anyone come looking for him?"

"You don't know that Iruka." Kakashi chided. "The world is a big place."

"Still." Iruka said in a clipped tone before he pulled the noodles out of the water and into a strainer. He might have drained it a little too enthusiastically as few strands fell into the sink. "What person wouldn't worry when their child goes missing?"

.x.

_Name: Namikaze Menma_

_Age: 22 years old_

_Gender: Male_

_Height: 6'4_

_Eye color: Blue_

_Hair color: Black_

_Mission info: Namikaze son is the heir of Rasengan Inc. and has currently disappeared off the radar. Sources show that there could be a possible coup against the Namikaze family and chances are if his disappearance is known, people will act on it, using it as an advantage to throw the current CEO and owner of Rasengan Inc. off balance._

_General characteristics: Menma is called by his first name, never his last name. He has a tendency to glare at things that irritate him and he is very unpredictable. He has a group of people around him often consisting of fellow future moguls and magnates namely Uchiha Sasuke, Sabaku Gaara, Hyuuga Neji, and Nara Shikamaru. More friends are drawn to him through those as well as his cousin Uzumaki Karin. He attends Sugiyama Boards with aforementioned students in preparation of his take over of the company when he's ready and when the current CEO is ready to let go._

_Notes: Beware. Without any leads, anyone could be a suspect. Even the father isn't being informed about Fuge's involvement. Fuge is indebted to the Namikaze family after their constant funding and the missing person is a close personal friends of most Fuge agents._

_Good luck._

.x.

Naruto loved high school, he loved learning and spending time with his friends. What he hated was having to go through everything he'd already gone through before. Such as Physics and Trigonometry. He'd gotten a good enough education when he had been in the Philippines but apparently Namikaze went through a special type of schooling that required his presence until he was the age of twenty-five.

What sick bastard wanted to stay in high school when he should have been in college at this point?! Did he not realize just how much money was being wasted on him here?

"Stupid tycoons with their never ending supply of green." Naruto grumbled as he stared at what he was sure was a very fine establishment through his newly bought Ray Ban sunglasses. Yes, fucking Ray Ban because Namikaze was that _type _of guy.

Plucking the key out of the ignition of a modest Toyota, Naruto took in a deep breath and made his way towards the gate. It was a bit uncanny, he thought, as he handed the guard Namikaze's ID that had a picture of him, just how similar they looked. Apparently, Namikaze was a bit taller than him (which would explain his also new Python Loafers that looked exactly like the ones he got at_Baclaran_ for a hundred pesos or less) and indeed had black hair.

Another thing that made Naruto wish he could just make the kid appear. He _hated _this wig. It was itchy and he could feel his real hair wanting to break free underneath the wig cap Kiba had had to threaten Naruto with Asa getting a hold of his pictures to get on.

Naruto kind of shuddered at the thought. Asa was… he was a good kid. Four years Naruto's junior, he was a stellar Fuge agent at the age of eighteen years old. Naruto had the knack for Fuge, but he just sort of gave up on being the cop-slash-FBI of Japan when Iruka had made it clear that he could do whatever he wanted to do and if it was in the man's power he would get it.

To an extent, Naruto did hate people like Namikaze who had money and _flaunted _it. Sure, Naruto had money, but it wasn't _his _money. It was a consecutive pool between Iruka, Kakashi, and his _Lola _Tsunade. Every month they'd transfer a good few thousands (Lord knows where they got it) into his bank account.

But it wasn't money he was earning, it wasn't money that was actually _his. _It made him moderate his spending, helped him learn to control himself and he was sorta glad that _Lola _Tsunade took him under her wing in the Philippines. It gave him much to appreciate about life.

_Maybe to an outsider's point of view, I sound like a big fat hypocrite._

Naruto sighed and tucked the ID back into his (rather fat) wallet and moved inside the campus. It was big, just like everything else, and it was ostentatious. God, did these people not understand the meaning of the word subtlety?

"Menma!" There was a flash of red that had Naruto's vision clouding for a moment before he registered the face underneath it.

Bright red eyes, thin pale face. He knew this person. _Uzumaki Karin. Namikaze Menma's cousin on his maternal side. She's taking up Accountancy and is generally seen around Namikaze when in the campus. Namikaze often ignores his cousin, but pulls through for her in the end._

"Karin." Naruto hoped his voice had been the right amount of bored (_Puta ang arte_) as he walked past his shocked cousin. He paused for a moment and looked over his shoulder. "Why exactly are you impersonating a statue?"

Karin, who had indeed been frozen turned on her heel. The hand that came to smack the back of Naruto's head had been unexpected. "That's it? _That's it?_ You disappear for nearly a month and now you're back and _that's fucking it_?"

The red flush crept from Karin's neck to her cheeks before she caught the raised eyebrow on her cousin's face and she cleared her throat, adjusted her glasses and smoothed her skirt. "I mean, hi cousin, it's been a while."

"Indeed." Naruto smirked and continued walking, waiting for Karin to catch up with him. No one had seen the outburst but from the files he'd perused it wouldn't have mattered. What happened in the campus, stayed in the campus. Apparently.

"Seriously though, Menma." Karin said as they waited for the elevator. "You just went somewhere and left everyone hanging. Sasuke was so worried and I assumed you'd gone to him but when he called me to ask where you were, that's when I got scared."

Naruto clenched the strap of his book bag for a moment. "I'll explain everything to you later, kay? Just be glad that I'm back and I'm safe?"

"I don't know." Karin sniffed as the elevator doors opened and she stepped in. "With you out of the way, I could have been next in line for Rasengan Inc."

"Yeah right!" Naruto chuckled as he followed her. Of course… _that wasn't a joking matter_. "I may have been gone for that month long vacation but… I'm not going anywhere."

_After all, that's why I'm here_.

* * *

**Glossary:**

_Punyeta _is considered a swear word. I guess it can be equal to shit or fuck.

_Sigurado ako doon _means "I'm sure about that."

_Pero _is also the equivalent of "But" or "However"

_Lola _means "Grandmother"

_Puta _is another swear word, close to meaning "Damn"

_Arte _is associated with something that's incredibly annoying. The reaction to something that's maarte is irritation. Like when a girl takes too long with picking something. She's _maarte_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **I can't believe I got such good feedback! Thank you C:

I realized that this is a very slow-paced story but it will be interesting, I hope. Ahaha. I also realized that there are many things that will shock you and some thing that you'll probably say "I KNEW THAT!". Also, Naruto seems to speak in Tagalog whenever he feels pressured or when he's irritated hence the many swears. Some characters may seem out of it to you but how they are will make sense in the next chapters or so. Would love to hear your thoughts in a review :)

**EDIT: Guest,** thank you for your thoughts on this chapter but I must say I did warn you before hand that there would be (the language is) Tagalog slang. **It's not Spanish** so maybe you're mad cause the spelling or whatever is messed up and you thought I was butchering your language (I know it's the same word but it doesn't mean the same things. For example your _leche _is _milk _and our _leche _is _shit_). It's Tagalog and it's not _horrible _as you say cause I'm a native speaker so I should know.

I'm not taking it out. I like it in my story so, yeah. Tbh you're review kinda made me feel **insulted** on behalf of all the Filipinos who speak our 'horrible language' but thank you for your input nonetheless. :)

**Special thanks to: Xxferessa-TanXx**,** jasono346**,** Guest**,and **loveunaruto **for your reviews :D

* * *

So it wasn't so bad. Everyone was at least civil, not the douche bags Naruto was expecting. Of course that could have only been because this 'school' of theirs happened to have a sort of hierarchy. And guess who was at the fucking top?

_"This can't seriously be a real school. I feel like I'm stuck in a Korean drama." _Was the most Naruto had to say for the situation as people greeted him when he passed by and since he was acting out as Menma, he had to keep in the desire to greet people right back because Namikaze Menma does not _do _polite and happy _unless_ Papa Namikaze was here.

Cue hysterical laughter due to frustration. Yes, not even half a day into the stupid mission and he was at his wits end. Already _at his wits end_.

Naruto leaned back against his chair, taking in a deep breath. At least the cafeteria was nice. The quad was a large open area overlooking the many basketball and volleyball courts while the buildings for classrooms and laboratory experiments formed a frame around it.

It was sort of peaceful here, with the many towering trees. He didn't expect that here in Japan what with their puny bonsais but what did he know, exactly? Not a lot… maybe nothing at all.

"You're thinking too much right now." Naruto looked up, startled at the fingers smoothing down the wrinkles that were probably on his forehead. When they pulled away, he stared into familiar cobalt colored eye that reminded him shockingly of his own. "Where have you been brat?"

_Who is this? Nothing's coming up. _He studied the face, studied the body and wracked his brain for anything to come up. Fuge's files were largely lacking in information and Naruto cursed inwardly. He'd gone out of his way to berate Hanabi for her sloppiness but here he was about to be found out for the exact same thing. He should have done more research. _Bobo puta!_

"Oy Deidara, why do you have to call Menma that?" Karin said somewhat annoyingly to his left. Could she _not _see that he was having an internal crisis here? "You'd think you'd treat your brother better, tsk."

_Brother_.

"You don't hear him complaining, un." Deidara, apparently, crossed his arms over his chest, the lack of the second eye making sense with the long blonde bang hanging lose from the ponytail on his head. Fuge's records suck if they missed the fact that Menma had a fucking _brother_.

Naruto quickly recovered, not wanting to get caught off guard again and observed the way Deidara and Karin talked to each other. Bullheadedness ran in the family it seemed. Well, Naruto could deal with that. He didn't live with _Lola _Tsunade for seven years without learning anything from the _bruha._

"Will you two just can it?" Naruto sighed aggravated. "Look, I just went to be alone for a while. Sorry I didn't tell you or anything, but I'm back now so just drop it, okay?"

Deidara shook his head, not missing a beat. "No, not okay, un. I know that it's better for you to stew when you're mad and all that but you don't leave your big brother hanging like that, un! And worse you dropped on Ino's birthday! You owe her big time now, stupid."

_Ino?_

"Whatever." Naruto sniffed and turned away from them and pulling out his painfully new Iphone that had been filled with pictures upon pictures of Menma which had sickened Naruto to look at earlier. Now that he thought about it, maybe he should have. There were bound to be pictures of the people Fuge missed in it somewhere.

"If you think you're gonna get away with sending her a text now, it's not gonna work, un." Deidara frowned. "You messed up big, Menma. It was her eighteenth, un."

"I'll make it up to her." Naruto promised as he unlocked the screen and proceeded to hunt for the Gallery. Of course, the universe was simply against him. Warm palms closed over his eyes, his vision going black.

"Guess who." A disembodied voice demanded. A solid chest pressed against his back and the smell of apples assaulted his nose.

Naruto took another deep breath. _Please let this be what Menma would do_. "I'm not in the mood."

"You're never in the mood." The hands pulled away, letting the sunlight flow back into Naruto's field of vision. The chair in front of him had been pulled back and a ravenhead deposited himself into it. "How have you been Menma?"

"Good." Naruto smiled a bit at him because this one he recognized. "Did you miss me, Sasuke?"

"Miss you?" Sasuke smirked at him, obsidian eyes glimmering with a hidden spark. "I haven't had a good fuck in a month. I miss Junior more than I miss you though."

"I see." Naruto drawled. There was a slight flush crawling the back of his neck as he tried to process what the youngest Uchiha had meant.

"None of that." a second new voice cried. Again, a chair had been pulled back and a brunette this time dumped himself into it, his entire body sagging against it.

Naruto calmed upon seeing him. A genuine smirk lifted his lips as he met the man's eyes and although he wasn't actually undercover, he was still a Fuge agent and a good friend Naruto hadn't seen in years. "What's shakin' Nara? No menthols with you?"

"I'm trying to quit idiot, which you'd know if you didn't go poof on us for an entire month." Shikamaru let his head hand over the edge of his seat. "How are _you _though?"

"Good. Great." Naruto tried to contain the happy smile that wanted to split his face in half. "I'm back."

.x.

_Hey Kiba, send HQ a message for me._

_I want it taken to them immediately and it has to be said and written down word for word. It's important:_

**_You're researching skills suck._**

_Thanks._

.x.

Naruto sat in his free period class where he'd been told that he had no friends attending. He took the time to look at the contents of his phone, which with some tinkering, apparently contained whatever the real Menma had.

_He sure loves his applications. Flappy bird, Tetris, Zombie Tsunami._ Naruto chuckled softly to himself. _This guy's a kid at heart. Maybe he isn't too bad._

The gallery was also filled of, as Naruto saw when he first checked it, hundreds of pictures of Menma (_Selfielord lang ang peg). _It had to go past two hundred forty-five for him to find any decent pictures of him and his friends.

There was a really nice picture of Shikamaru, Menma, Sasuke, and (someone who Naruto hadn't met yet personally) Gaara in casual clothes and what looked like Disney Land.

Some photos featured Memes that Naruto was sure he'd seen somewhere on Facebook. That reminded him that he had Menma's password and that he should probably get a look into posting something soon. Whoever it was targeting the Namikaze family would not be aware of Menma's disappearance otherwise Naruto's mission would have been for nothing.

Naruto scrolled down a few more pictures and saw a very formal looking picture of Menma, Deidara, and who he could assume was Ino. The dark black hair looked out of place between the two blondes but the eyes were all a similarly beautiful cobalt blue.

He was disarmed. Not only did Menma have a brother but he had a younger sister.

_Ang tanga ng gago na toh, seryoso. _Naruto concluded. Very stupid, indeed. Why would he give up such a good life? He had school, he had friends, and he had a family. Fuck all the people he's seen in the Philippines, the children, walking around with absolutely nothing and here's a guy who disappears on something any one of those children would die to have.

Of course there was the possibility that Menma didn't just disappear and was actually _taken_.

_That's it, _Naruto grumpily scrolled through more pictures. _No more judging._

He was actually looking for something, and it was all because of what Sasuke had said. '_Haven't had a good fuck for a month.' _Sasuke associated Menma with a good fuck, then that meant that the Namikaze heir swung that way? And for the Uchiha to mention it so crassly and openly, that meant that everybody knew about them and it could possibly be a boyfriend-boyfriend relationship.

Naruto wasn't bothered, to say, since he's had his fair share of boys. Experimentation never killed anyone (although a scientist could probably protest that) after all. But he needed to know just what exactly Menma and Uchi- Sasuke, _Sasuke (first names dammit)_, had.

If one thing, it would help him feel more comfortable in his role as Menma.

Unfortunately, there weren't any more pictures of Sasuke as there were of anybody else. Of course, Menma didn't seem like the type to keep pictures of his supposed boyfriend so he could drool on them.

Naruto sighed and tucked his Iphone away. Everything seemed to be harder for him since he wasn't that informed. He was sure that Fuge wasn't this sloppy with research so he couldn't really understand why he had so little information to begin with. Was this meant to be a reconnaissance mission? Did they not have enough stuff on the Namikaze family?

_They've gotta tell people these things, seriously._

.x.

Naruto wondered if it had been such a great idea to start Menma's day at school and _not _at home. He wished he could take the easy way out and just tell these people that for the sake of the Namikaze's safety, they'd have to deal with an impostor for a couple of days. But _nooo_, anyone could be a suspect.

'Kung pwede lang _I'd be back in Manila and getting ready to head out to Baguio_.' Naruto thought sadly as he walked up the empty driveway.

It was a modest three story house that had multiple balconies and was wider than it was tall. There weren't a lot of things from Naruto's vantage point that could determine what kind of people lived in that house, aside from maybe rich since he was sure that that was at least four Maseratti's right in front of him. He let out a low whistle.

'_I don't think I'm in Japan. _Diyos ko_, I think I took a wrong turn to America.' _Naruto looked at the door and wondered what he should do. Did Menma knock? He had a key but he wasn't sure if he should just go in, especially if Papa Namikaze was in there. He didn't think the 'I just needed to be alone for a while' excuse would work on a parent. Lord knows it never worked on Tsunade.

"Menma? You're home early, un." Naruto turned away from the door to his left, which was a sort of gate. It was partially opened and he could see Deidara who had a little boy perched on his hip a fist in his little mouth.

"Felt like it." He returned lamely, eyes still on the kid. Red hair fell in pin straight bangs all over his forehead and around his head, reaching the nape of his neck. His skin was pale and his eyes were the same cobalt blue as the man carrying him.

_'He has a kid.' _Naruto licked his lips, now even more nervous. He should have gone in the damn door when he had the chance. He felt paralyzed as he was stared at by both Deidara and the unknown toddler, who could have only been more or less two years old.

"Mah!" the kid suddenly screamed, arms reaching out for him. Naruto reacted instinctively, reaching out for him as well. He only had a second to worry if that was something Menma would have done before he became too focused with the little fists grabbing at his wig._Shit_.

"Enko missed you. That's what you get for disappearing on him and all that." Deidara smiled, hands on his hips. He turned around and walked the pathway Naruto had missed. Naturally, Naruto followed him all the while keeping a good hold of one of Enko's, so it seemed tiny little hands.

"Are you ever gonna get over that?" Naruto asked in all honest curiosity as he started bouncing Enko in his arms. The redhead seemed to like that as he abandoned the idea of grabbing at Naruto's wig and instead shrieked till everybody's ear drums hurt.

"Give me time, Menma, un." Deidara sighed as he slid a glass door open and walked in. He slipped of his shoes and took Enko from Naruto's arms so he could do the same. "You know how lonely it gets in this house. We went from barely five to four in a second and that just scared us a lot."

'_So they do care about each other.' _Naruto mused. Now he was hoping that Menma really was taken so that he could give the kid an excuse. If he disappeared cause he really just felt like it… _Boom._

"Sorry." Naruto smiled and received Enko for his efforts as they entered, what seemed to be the kitchen.

"You will be." Deidara smirked over his shoulder.

Naruto only had a second to wonder what that meant.

"Put my baby down so that I can smack you." Ino, or who Naruto thought was Ino, stood at five foot four, hands on her hips, cobalt blue eyes gleaming wickedly. Instead of doing as she asked, Naruto's grip on Enko tightened and Ino either didn't care and was gonna hit him anyways or didn't notice anymore. "No calls, no texts, no notes, no messages from any of our friends. What the _hell_Menma?!"

"Apparently he's sorry." Deidara called from where he was rummaging through the cupboards.

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Ino was right in front of him now and a swift swing of her arm made a painful throbbing build up at the back of Naruto's head.

_Aray! _He winced and pressed his own fingers to what he was sure was a forming bump. Then there were arms around him, locking his arm in place in that awkward position while Enko was contentedly pressed against his chest.

Ino gripped him tightly, figure slightly shaking. "We thought something happened to you Menma. Never do that again."

Naruto's heart softened. _They really do care about each other. _"I won't."

Ino pulled back, hands again falling back to her hips. "Good. Now you sit down over there while I finish dinner. You're a little early though, why?"

"Just felt like it." Naruto answered, making his way towards the bar counter and sitting on one of the stools. He settled Enko in front of him, keeping him between the bar and himself. The one year old laughed and swung and kicked his legs around, nearly hitting Deidara who was now sitting beside Naruto.

"Now that you're back we can talk about that trip we wanted to go too, un." Deidara said. "Where were we last time?"

"We said Thailand." Ino answered as she lowered a huge wok from a cabinet. "But we've been there twice already, I'm kinda getting tired of it. If we go there one more time I'm gonna get fat!"

"Maybe we should just steer clear of the floating market then." Deidara suggested as he pulled out a laptop from one of the counters drawers. He jabbed it to life and seemed to be scrolling through countries sluggishly, lazily, almost as if this was something the three of them did all the time.

Naruto realized that maybe it _was _something they did all the time. Just not him, but Deidara, Menma, and Ino. (_Their names are Deidara, Menma, and Ino. Mud, bamboo shoots, and pig. Where they born in the mountains or something?)._

Which begs the question, who was Enko?

Naruto looked down at the baby that was now playing with the buttons on his uniform shirt and wondered if this was a brother or if this was a nephew.

Hmm.

.x.

_Hey Kiba,_

_This is a serious favor now, no messing around. Can you get me any info on a Namikaze Enko? It's really important that I get answers stat. Cover's under question here._

_Thanks_

.x.

_This is all I got for you on such short notice man, you know I don't have access to the big files like Shikamaru. Why don't you talk to him though? Before you ask, he **knows**. About the mission, and about the kid._

_Name: Namikaze Enko_

_Age: 22 months old_

_Gender: Male_

_Height: 2'11_

_Eye color: Blue_

_Hair color: Copper_

_Mother: Namikaze Ino_

_Father: Nara Shikamaru_

.x.

Naruto stared at his Iphone for a moment before he tossed it on his desk and dumped himself into his bed. Or rather, Menma's bed.

It was just after dinner, and he was a bit drained. It wasn't easy pretending to be Menma when it was his _family. _For one thing they knew him inside out (_"Ino, why is your hair colored?" "Oh, you can dye yours but I can't dye mine?) _and for another this was the man's_family_. It always sucked to lie to them the most because for a better portion of their time they trust you. And that's always something that hurts to lose.

And also, there were things that seemed to be for the Namikaze's eyes and ears such as baby Enko.

_'Shika's a dad.' _Naruto thought idly as he stared at the ceiling. He ran a hand over his face, feeling every inch of his body succumbing to the soft mattress it was laying on. '_Seven years. Just how much can you miss in seven years?'_

Naruto tried to run through all the friends he'd left here in Japan and felt very awful for such bad communication. There was Kiba, who he knew was now a full-fledge Fuge agent and was making a name for himself under the guise of a dog walker. Then he also had Hinata and Neji who were also Fuge agents but also working under Hinata's father's company. Shikamaru, a Fuge agent in hiding like himself, was still undergoing studying in preparation of something and was apparently a dad.

Out of all of them, Naruto couldn't believe Shikamaru's standing.

And Ino and Shikamaru were obviously not together if Enko's last name was anything to go by. Why didn't Nara give his last name to the kid if he knew who Enko was?

_Diyos ko_. Naruto thought tiredly and threw an arm over his eyes. _Too much drama here in Japan. And I think I'm caught in the middle of all of it._

There was also the issue of Uchiha Sasuke.

Who was he to Menma?

.x.

_Uchiha Sasuke: Thanks for tonight. I really needed that.  
Uchiha Sasuke: What are you so stressed about?  
Uchiha Sasuke: Don't lie, I can tell when you're lying.  
Uchiha Sasuke: It's a gift.  
Uchiha Sasuke: Maybe. Let's talk about it over dinner.  
Uchiha Sasuke: That wasn't a request.  
Uchiha Sasuke: Really though, pick me up at eight?  
Uchiha Sasuke: Itachi's coming home tonight, that's why.  
Uchiha Sasuke: Did I forget to mention that Kisame's coming with him?  
Uchiha Sasuke: Cool. See you then!_

_Namikaze Ino: Could you pick up that tofu Enko likes so much? I can't go out today. Thanks!  
Namikaze Ino: Get some milk too! We're all out._

_Sabaku Gaara: You worry too much.  
Sabaku Gaara: You should just focus on your studies.  
Sabaku Gaara: We need to talk._

_Namikaze Minato: I can't seem to get a hold of your brother or you sister so tell them my flight's been postponed okay? Love you. Send me a message of whatever you guys want from Paris!_

.x.

Naruto pursed his lips as he studied the received messages. None of the sent items were saved. Menma had the habit of deleting them so it seemed and he could make up much of the conversations. What he did know was the Papa Namikaze was called _Minato_ and he seemed very nice.

How he got that from one text he didn't know. Maybe it was because of the '_love you_'. He appreciated that Minato openly told his children that. Some parents hardly did. Tsunade didn't but Naruto felt the love with every one of her backslaps. The harder they were the stronger the love. He should see about sending _Lola _Tsunade a gift or something, maybe a case of sake of he could get his hands on some without anybody knowing.

Mind off of that, Naruto looked up at the sound of the bell ringing as the café door opened. He wondered if Uchiha's prided themselves over being fashionably late.

He'd set a meeting with Sasuke, with the hopes of finally figuring out what was going on between Menma and him but the ravenhead had had him waiting for nearly half an hour now and he was starting to get impatient.

_Ding_.

And that bell was really starting to piss him off.

"Menma." The chair in front of him was pulled back and Sasuke lowered himself into it, looking absolutely pleased with himself.

"Where you waiting for the new year to pass before you got here?" Naruto asked sourly as he leaned back on his own chair.

"That's a new one." Sasuke nodded. He reached a hand out and took the latte on the table that Naruto had been sipping from the past half hour. "It's cold."

"It's mine." Naruto deadpanned. "Get your own coffee."

"Too lazy." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders before he rotated his neck, wincing at the audible cracks. "Thanks for getting me out of the house. Itachi is being mean again."

"Oh?" Naruto asked as he flagged won a waitress.

"Yes," Sasuke sighed. "Apparently his time in America had not been too much fun and so he had to put a little excitement in his life with the use of me and his new Veyron."

Naruto choked on his latte. "He got a _Veyron_?"

Sasuke snorted and nodded. "_Ferrari's are so overrated, Otouto."_

Naruto shook his head in disbelief. "Wow."

"It's red."

"His favorite." Naruto guessed.

Across from him Sasuke simply sighed and closed his eyes before realizing the waitress was there and giving out his order.

Naruto took a moment and remembered his coffee order; chocolate chip Frappucino. Funny, Sasuke didn't look like the frap-y kind.

"So why exactly did you wanna meet up?" Sasuke asked. "I wasn't really serious about the fucking. Although I do miss it."

Naruto settled with, "I don't really know. I guess I just wanted to see you."

"Are you going sentimental on me Namikaze?" Sasuke gave him an incredulous look. "I know I'm lovable but you can't break our rules."

Naruto chuckled. So they had _rules_. "Care to remind me what those were again?"

Sasuke sat up properly now as the waitress returned with his drink. He played with the straw for a moment before he took a sip, an extremely entertained expression on his face.

Naruto stared at him, meeting the obsidian gaze squarely. "Anytime this century would be nice."

"If you insist." Sasuke drew the straw out and leisurely licked at the frap that stuck to it and drew his tongue into his mouth. "Number one, nobody has to know."

Naruto nodded.

"Number two, no making things awkward and number three, no getting jealous when we see other people."

Naruto nodded again.

"Number four, expensive gifts are always a plus." Sasuke took a long drink of his frap and he stared at Naruto as he sucked.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at such a gleeful expression. "Gonna tell me number five?"

Sasuke chuckled. "Why, Menma. You'd think you'd remember the one rule you created."

"Just tell me Sasuke." Naruto insisted, reaching into his wallet and pulling out enough yen to cover both their drinks.

"Dobe." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Number five, no falling in love. That's crap."

* * *

**Glossary:**

Bobo is another swear word. It's equivalent would be stupid, I guess.

_Bruha _is a term to describe a girl that you could hate. I guess it could be considered the Tagolog term for bitch but in this case, Naruto uses it as an endearment. I do that myself with my girl friends. They're my loka-bruhas.

_Selfielord _okay this one I gotta explain. When you take a picture of yourself you call it a "Selfie" in the Philippines. A selfielord is someone who takes tons of selfies a day which would accumulate to hundreds in your phone.

_Lang ang peg _is a trending statement. It sorta implies that you were copying something/someone with what you were doing. Kinda like if you eat ramen really fast people would say "naruto lang ang peg" cause that's how Naruto eats ramen- really fast.

_Ang tanga ng gago na toh, seryoso _roughly translates to "This idiot is really stupid, seriously."

_Kung pwede lang _translates to "If it were only allowed"

_Diyos ko_ literally translates to_ "_My God"

_Aray!_ means_ "_Ow!" or "It hurts!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Been a while, anyways more of the past is revealed here and I suck at mystery so I might as well reveal it. I kinda think you guys expected this, am I right? I'd like to know what you guys think of the chapter please! Also some critique on the OCs. I'm very fond of Maro and Ryumeki both.

**Special thanks to: **Guest (who I have also thanked last chapter) and **Dragon77**

* * *

It had been a solid week. Naruto ducked his head as he walked into the coffee shop. It was kind of crowded since it was a Saturday so the teenagers had all hit the malls and it was also kinda close to pay day which kinda explained the overstuffed Starbucks.

It was perfect for his meeting with Kiba. After Naruto found out that Kiba had sent Fuge his very much informal message, Kakashi had made it a point to search and print every single sheet of information on every person Namikaze Menma had interacted with for the past five years.

Naruto eyed the pile of papers and folders sitting innocently on the coffee table that Kiba was settled in, along with a half-asleep Shikamaru and (_hala lagot)_Asa who was nursing a cup of coffee and staring at the open laptop in front of him next to the papers.

_Do I stay? They haven't seen me yet, I can't still get out of here._Naruto took in a deep breath (something he's been doing often nowadays) as he contemplated the pros and cons of playing hooky on this meeting. Pro: He wouldn't have to deal with Asa's awkward hero-worship stare, Con: He wouldn't have the info he needed. Pro: He could avoid Asa's longing gazes, Con: Kiba would have a major bitch fit. _They're tied. Shit._

Naturally, the universe made the decision for him with Asa looking up, a huge smile splitting his pale face, his big gold eyes brightening his entire face like the reason of his whole existence just walked through the door (which in his case, it might have been what had happened).

"Naruto!" He waved a hand for him to come over.

_'Kalma lang.'_Naruto thought tiredly and smiled back. He meant the smile though cause Asa was a good kid. Just a little… ugh, well he was young.

"Do you want something to drink?" Asa asked once he'd been seated. The ravenhead was already standing. "Latte? Frap? Shake?"

"Just plain coffee Asa, thanks." Naruto watched the kid towards the counter, getting in line. The moment he was out of ear shot, he reached out and gave Kiba a smack on the shoulder, sparing Shikamaru who he knew had nothing to do with this. "You brought him with you!"

"First off, _Ow!"_Kiba grinned at him and rubbed the abused shoulder then gestured to the pile of papers. "And second off, you kinda need him to explain all this crap."

Naruto huffed. "You couldn't have done it?"

"No." Kiba deadpanned. "You already know that this is his forte. Let him do his job."

"Fine." Naruto slumped into his chair. He tossed a look towards Shikamaru. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Kiba sent me a message." Shikamaru replied, eyes still closed. "Said you wanted to know about Enko?"

"So you do know about him?" Naruto asked. "Damn Nara, you're a father? How the hell did that happen?"

Shikamaru opened one eye and stared at him. "Well, Naruto. When a man and woman have at it for a good straight three days-."

"Gah, no, _Diyos ko_! Not _that_." Naruto shuddered. "I have no desire, whatsoever to know anything about what you and any woman have done in bed."

Kiba piped up, looking a little queasy. "Yeah, I don't wanna know either."

"I was speaking in general." Shikamaru reminded them. "And Naruto, you asked."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I meant how that happened between you and a Namikaze heiress, who I knew nothing about, thank you very much. You could have warned me when you saw me at school!"

"I thought Fuge gave you all the files." Shikamaru shrugged. "Besides, Menma and I don't talk much. The small conversation we had was the extent of a weekly meeting between him and me."

"You call him Menma." Naruto noted.

"He calls me Shikamaru." The man returned. "I call his noisy cousin Karin and I call his best friend Sasuke. No last names at that place. It's a rule."

Naruto sniffed and pursed his lips. He was saved trying to come up with a reply when Asa came back to the table carrying a tray that held his black coffee along with what looked like an assortment of Danish.

Kiba reached out immediately taking out the blueberry ones that Naruto hated and he mentally thanked his best friend.

Asa smiled at them and said nothing for a while as they munched on his bought pastries. A good five minutes of silence though and the ravenhead cleared his throat and gestured towards the files. "Umm… let's get started?"

Naruto nodded as he chewed and sipped at his coffee.

Asa, his cheeks losing the flush he'd had since Naruto smiled at him, nodded to himself and turned the open laptop to Naruto because neither Shikamaru nor Kiba needed to see it since they'd had a debriefing of their own.

"Agent 7259," Asa began. "Yesterday, February 26, 9:30 a.m. you started mission incognito with little to nothing on your files case. Fuge apologizes as they'd expected, and I quote, for you to go as you went along. We never foresaw that you'd need more than just the basic info since you are pretty known for your winging it."

Kiba snorted into his drink and Naruto kicked him underneath the table.

"There are multiple files here for you to evaluate but we've made a list that's determined the individuals you'll most probably meet while undercover."

Asa gestured to the computer screen and they read it together.

_1)__Namikaze Deidara_

_2)__Namikaze Ino_

_3)__Namikaze Enko_

_4)__Namikaze Minato_

_5)__Uzumaki Karin_

_6)__Uchiha Sasuke_

_7)__Sabaku Gaara_

_8)__Hozuki Suigetsu_

_9)__Hotori Maro_

_10)__Sugiyama Ryumeki_

"That is our top ten." Asa concluded.

Naruto rested his chin on a propped up palm. "There are only ten?"

"_Top_ten." Asa repeated. "You might meet other people on the list but these are the most likely."

"Okay." Naruto nodded. "Lay it on me."

"First off, Namikaze Deidara." Asa pulled out a piece of paper that had Deidara's picture and profile. "He is Menma's brother, senior by four years. He declined the takeover of the Namikaze business and instead turned to starting a music career which he's successfully done for himself. As far as conversation should go, rejecting the takeover is a sore subject for him and would rather not talk about it. He's currently on leave from any of his activities since it seems that they're planning on taking a vacation."

"They mentioned that." Naruto confirmed.

"Right." Asa nodded. "Deidara-kun also prefers to stay close to his siblings as well as their father if ever he is home."

"You're everyday family guy." Kiba grumbled. "Basically, when he acts like an idiot, you're still related to him so you'll just have to deal."

"Kay." Naruto chuckled. He looked at Asa. "I can read his file later. Just give me the down-low on everyone on the top ten and I'll handle the rest."

Asa smiled back at Naruto before he pulled out a picture of Ino then another paper that had Enko's profile. "Namikaze Ino, Menma's younger sister by two years and just turned eighteen two weeks ago. Supposedly the debut had been a big bash. This is her son, Enko who you know the parentage and info of. Menma is often taking care of Enko, according to our sources he is his favorite baby sitter. Ino-san is currently a stay at home mom but is also taking business management classes online for the sake of the Namikaze flower shop that's been in the family for the past two decades. Ino is much like her siblings, very loud, very eccentric. As the only female in the family right now, she's taken to mothering her brothers and her father. It's best to just appease her whenever she gets angry."

"Don't mess with Ino, got it." Naruto nodded. He looked at Shikamaru. "You can tell me about that when you're ready."

"When did you become such a gossip?" Shikamaru wondered.

"I'm not a gossip." Naruto stuck his tongue out. "I'm pretty sure Ino would have told Menma what happened between you two. What if she asked me questions?"

Shikamaru mulled over that. "I suppose you're right. Enko's birthday is coming up."

"It is?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Shikamaru sighed and ran a hand over his face. "March 31st. It's his second birthday party. Ino wants a big celebration and all that."

"Wait," Naruto said, mentally counting. "She's just turned eighteen and he's turning two. So she was what when she had him? Sixteen?"

"Yes." Shikamaru said flatly.

Naruto got the message clearly. _Drop it._ He turned to Asa. "Next?"

"Namikaze Minato." Asa produced another paper. "He is the Namikaze patriarch who is often going around the world handling their business personally. He's been widowed eighteen years, losing his wife Uzumaki Kushina in a car crash back in 1996. Minato-san is quite the single father, managing to keep himself and his children happy for over the time he's been looking after them. The records show that there has never been a stay at home nanny or any of the sort. He really did the raising part himself."

Naruto nodded. "That's good. I wanted to know that."

"I thought you would." Asa flushed before he cleared his throat. "U-Uh, next. Uzumaki Karin."

"I've met her." Naruto said.

Asa pulled out another paper. "Uchiha Sasuke."

"Met him too."

Asa raised an eyebrow. "Sabaku Gaara?"

"That one not yet." Naruto grinned.

"Good." Asa said. "He's Menma's best friend, not as physically close as Sasuke but definitely up there with the Namikaze's. Menma considers him family and they've been attached on the hip since they met in school at the age of eight. Menma comes to him for comfort when he's had fights with his brother or sister. That's the friendship that they have. He could blow your cover if you aren't careful."

"Gotcha." Naruto nodded. "Be wary of Red."

Asa smiled. "Hozuki Suigetsu, Hotori Maro, and Sugiyama Ryumeki are friends of Sasuke's. They're often tagging along after the Uchiha so you will be seeing them often. In fact you'll be seeing them a little later this day for a luncheon that Sasuke will be inviting you to."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Fuge is tracking Uchiha?"

"He's a possible suspect." Shikamaru answered. "It's why I'm coming to school more often. Gaara, Karin, Maro, Sakura, Suigetsu. They're all possible suspects."

"Sakura?" Naruto echoed, hearing a name without a face.

Asa checked his files. "She's number thirteen. Haruno Sakura, Sasuke-kun's lab partner and defense instructor. She's not really in your _group_as opposed to that she tags along when she feels like doing so."

"A g-jumper then?" Kiba asked, wrinkling his nose.

"No, not really." Asa continued to read through her file. "It says here it's a little awkward for her since she and Menma used to date and apparently Menma has been having a rather physically intimate relationship with Sasuke-kun."

"An ex." Naruto cried in dismay. "I kinda expected it."

"Good luck dude." Kiba saluted.

Asa rolled his eyes but kept on a professional face. "That's all about the top ten. You good?"

"I am." Naruto nodded and pulled out his phone which had been vibrating for a while. He winced at the caller ID. He answered it quickly. "Hello?"

"_Why weren't you answering?"_Sasuke's voice was equal parts frustrated and panicking.

"I'm answering now." Naruto said pointing a finger at Kiba to keep him from talking. "What's wrong?"

"_Nothing. Something."_A deep sigh. "_Everything. Itachi's having this unveiling party, for the Veyron, and I think it's stupid_."

"It _is_stupid." Naruto agreed which made Sasuke chuckle on the other end. Inwardly, Naruto smiled at his advancement involving Sasuke. It was easy to adapt a persona that pleased him so much and evidently it was much like what Menma acted like around the Uchiha.

"_I knew I liked you for a reason_." Sasuke said before he audibly deflated. "_The lunch is in two and a half hours and I'd just like for you to keep me company through it all, please? I know you just got back but you abandoned me for a month. You owe me."_

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Such a drama queen."

"_And you love me_." Sasuke deadpanned.

"All right." Naruto sighed defeated. "Can't argue with that kind of logic, right? I'll pick you up at eleven."

"_Whatever."_Sasuke answered. "_Maro and Ryumeki are coming too. Dress nice."_

"Right." And then he hang up. Naruto looked up at his table mates, pursing his lips and idly taping his fingers. "Anybody have any idea whatsoever on what I should wear to the _unveiling party_ of a Veyron?"

.x.

Sasuke was a very stoic man when Naruto picked him up and drove to the restaurant. He looked plenty nice in his cashmere sweater and slacks. Of course, there was the heavy coat and the loafers too. Naruto was taking the opportunity to study the Uchiha. He didn't know for how long he would be sticking to this mission. Should the need for presents arise, he should have an idea as to what would work on him.

"You look nice." Naruto tried to compliment as they made their way to the restaurant.

Sasuke remained quiet for a moment before he said, "You do too."

Naruto wondered if it was always that awkward in the car between them. The silence was stifling and he ached to turn the radio on but found that he couldn't in fear of pissing Sasuke off. The Uchiha did not look like someone Naruto would want to cross. Sad enough he was much more used to a happy and chattery Sasuke. Not soon enough, he was pulling over and parking the car and Sasuke was staring at the dashboard. The blonde took a deep breath. "Are you okay?"

"I don't wanna go." Sasuke mumbled. "Menma, tell me why I have to go."

_You had to ask._Naruto inwardly grimaced_. You should have just let him stew and sulk instead of asking. Now what are you gonna do?_ He fished for anything to say in return, something the Namikaze heir would say. "He's your brother?"

Sasuke snorted and turned away from him, his arms crossing over his chest. His eyes seemed to be seeing something that Naruto couldn't and his thoughts were loud enough that he didn't notice the questioning tone in Naruto's voice.

"Okay," Naruto smirked, calming down some. "Let's try that again."

Sasuke turned back to him, eyebrow raised. "Menma… tell me why I have to go."

"As an Uchiha heir it is good publicity to show that you have family unity. It'll keep the gossiping paparazzi away and this way it'll be easier to make sure the pictures are good and the quotes are in verbatim." Naruto smirked. "And think of Itachi."

Sasuke stared at him for a moment before the ravenhead shook his head, once again rolling his eyes. "That was better. Much better."

"I live to please you." Naruto mock bowed before he unbuckled his seat belt and made to get out of the car. He hurried to get to the other side and opened Sasuke's door for him, ignoring the most definitely not amused look on the pale face. "I open the door for my highness."

"Highness." Sasuke echoed as he got out, smacking Naruto's hand away so he could close the door himself. "I am not a girl Namikaze."

"No." Naruto agreed then he stuck his tongue out. "But _I love you_."

Sasuke laughed at that, his entire body changing, tension leaving.

"Well, well." A low voice hummed. Naruto turned to look to his left, where a Toyota just pulled up and the passenger door's window was open. The man behind it was smirking, not at him but at Sasuke. "Was the a confession we just walked into? We should think of arriving late more often Ryumeki, that way we won't miss things."

Naruto grinned at that and watched as the man got out of the car and stood in front of him in what seemed to be his five foot five glory. That was pretty short. The blonde wracked his head for a moment, if these people knew Sasuke enough that they all each other by their first names then he should know who this was.

White hair and vivid mauve colored eyes. "You didn't see anything Honda."

"I disagree." Maro replied as another man, this one at least a good head and a half taller than him stood by his side, an arm wrapping around his waist. Maro turned to him. "Did you not see what I sa Ryumeki?"

"I did." The brunette, apparently Ryumeki, smirked at Naruto, burgundy eyes brimming with absolute glee. He reached a hand out. "It's good to see you Menma. You gave us quite a scare."

"Emotional trouble." Naruto explained. "Just needed to be alone."

"It happens to everyone." Ryumeki nodded and began walking towards the entrance doors. Maro had slipped away from the brunette to walk beside Sasuke, the two engaging in conversation.

Naruto took this in consideration. Sasuke often left Menma to converse with other people despite the fact that they were supposedly together on this event. There truly were no emotional ties here, just a friends-with-benefits type.

.x.

Minato looked up from the TV as the door to his office opened. The scent of fresh croissants filled the room and he basically salivated for coffee.

"Need a break Sir?" Haku smiled and pushed the small cart into the room right up to the desk before settling it on top.

The blonde nodded his thanks and invited his personal assistant to dine with him with Haku refusing saying he had lunch with Zabuza in fifteen minutes. Minato smiled at him. "What are you waiting for though, go ahead."

"But it's not yet my lunch time." Haku protested.

Minato ignored this as he sipped at his coffee. "Don't keep him waiting. I'll be fine by myself for a while."

"If you're sure." The younger man pressed.

Minato smiled at the worry he saw on Haku's face. "I am. You mustn't worry too much Haku. Zabuza will never forgive me for making your hair turn white because of me."

"He will live." Haku said as he moved towards the door. He sent one last look over his shoulder at his boss before leaving the room.

Minato watched him go before he returned to his meal. France was such a beautiful country, not that he managed to leave his office too often, but when he did he saw so much of everything he couldn't help but wish his children were here with him.

Ino would love the clothes and Deidara would adore all the art galleries he'd seen so far. The food shops around were plentiful and Menma would get to have that food trip he's been wanting to have since their family had list visited Thailand. That had been a fulfilling day out on the floating market. Let it be said that their family had fast metabolism.

In all reality, Minato worried about his children. He hardly saw them anymore. Deidara was just as busy with his own business. Running it was hard enough without him participating in the band. Ino had to look after Enko and also handle the flower shops that were running scattered around Japan. Not to mention have to look into the gardens to make sure that all their products were growing without trouble. Menma, well he wasn't sure what his son was getting into nowadays.

Even though France was closer to home than most of his business trips, he never felt more far away from his family. From his home. From his heart.

Chewing on his croissant, Minato looked at his computer screen and smiled at their family portrait.

This one wasn't the most recent as it had both him and his wife in it, both of them sitting down on their favorite pair of arm chairs. Deidara was only six, his blonde hair cut short and spiking all over the place, standing in between the chairs. In front of him was Ino, at a year old wearing what had once been her most favorite dress and on each of his and his wife's laps had been a used to be blonde Menma and an equally blonde Nori.

Minato didn't know why he subjected himself to such torture. He hated the fact that his family was broken. He hated that his wife was no longer by his side. More so that he'd lost one of his children. He didn't know if Deidara remembered that he had another little brother or if the reason Menma was acting so differently was because he remembered that he was a _twin_.

That day eighteen years ago had been a very bad day for his family.

Minato wished he could bring back what he'd lost. If not for his sake then for Nori's. Lord knew how he wondered and searched and hoped and prayed that he would find Nori, find his son. He never gave up, never stopped searching, even now he hoped that one day he would come home to find not three of his kids but four waiting for him.

He'd take all of Ino's shrill questioning and Menma's harsh glares if it meant Nori would come back home.

Every day for the past eighteen years he had been angry. With the world, with the man that was now behind bars responsible for the car crash and with himself for not doing a better job. For not being a better Father.

He could only hope Kushina would forgive him, but until he had all his children home with him, he would never be able to forgive himself.

Swallowing the mouthful and chasing it down with some coffee, Minato grabbed his phone from his drawer and dialed a number he had been constantly hounding for the past eighteen years. The other line answered immediately and he smiled slightly in relief.

"Jiraiya, how are you?" Minato asked politely.

There was a small chuckled on the other end. "_Hey kid, I'm good! How have you been?" _

"Great." Minato answered, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Uh… nothing, huh?"

"_I'm sorry Minato."_ Jiraiya's voice returned gravely. "_We haven't got anything about him yet. The most I can tell you is that Orochimaru is still behind bars."_

"Good." Minato nodded to himself, slightly assured. He conversed with his old friend for a while more before he remembered that he had much to do with his work.

The phone call ended after a good three minutes and Minato lowered his head to rest on his folded arms on top of the desk.

No matter how long it had been, he was still hoping.

.x.

"Is that what I think it is?" Naruto couldn't help but wince in sympathy as the food was served. He stared at the plates in mild disgust and regret. Just how many snails would have to die only for the rich people to pretend to eat them?

"It's escargot." Sasuke noted, stiffly eyeing the plates as well.

"It's snail." Maro repeated eyes wide. "You're serving us snails."

"This wasn't _my _idea." Sasuke hissed but he reached out and took a tong (a tong?) and fiddled with it for a bit. "Don't just sit like statues, they aren't that bad."

"Oh no! Please don't give food pronouns. That it most certainly not appropriate and…" Maro looked like he wanted to cry. "They're _snails_."

"Be thankful they aren't slugs." Sasuke snapped then glared at the rest of the table. "_Eat dammit._"

Maro glared right back but picked up a tong as well. "Just so you know you owe us big for this. I could be in the Caribbean enjoying a coconut right now but no, you just had to beg me to come sit with you at your brother's big unveiling."

There was silence for a moment before Naruto couldn't take the silence (and he really didn't wanna eat any of the snails either) and cleared his throat, directing his question to Maro. "The Caribbean?"

"Hmm?" Maro looked up from where he'd been staring into a shell, violet eyes tearing up. "Oh yeah, vacation. Stress isn't good for you."

"Just how much stressed can you get?" Sasuke snorted pointing at Maro with a fork. "I mean, all your hair's white anyways."

"Marie Antoinette Syndrome!" Maro shrieked, in a rather high pitched sound, jabbing a fork right back at Sasuke's face.

Naruto raised a fine eyebrow at that. "Marie Antoinette…? What's that?"

"In simple terms when something very big happens to you, you kinda lose all the pigment in your hair and it turns white." Ryumeki explained, his hand slipping under the table.

Maro sniffed and turned his head away but kept a tight grip on Ryumeki's hand. "You try losing a sibling. It hurts too."

"It's okay." Ryumeki smiled. "It looks good on you, much better than blonde."

Naruto gaped. "You were a blonde?"

"Strawberry blonde." Ryumeki grinned. "But he looks even more gorgeous this way."

"Oh be quiet." Maro huffed and stared hard at his plate.

Naruto leaned back into his chair and glanced at Sasuke who was playing with his Iphone in pretense of checking his messages. He leaned towards the raven, and nudged him with his leg underneath the table. Sasuke looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"How long have they been together?" He murmured lowly.

Sasuke glanced at Maro and Ryumeki and looked away disinterestedly. "Four years."

"Wow." Naruto breathed. "You can see they're committed."

"I do." Sasuke nodded.

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed. "Why are you so down?"

"I'm not." Sasuke shook his head before he seemed to collect himself. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and gripped the edge of the tablecloth. "At least I wouldn't be if you guys would _eat the damn-!"_

"Gah!" Maro shoved himself away from the table, both hands pressed to his chest. Conversation in the room stilled and almost every single eye was drawn to their table.

"Are you all right?" Sasuke questioned, staring at the white haired boy warily, eyebrow raised.

Maro lifted a shaking hand and pointed at his plate. "I swear… one just _moved_."

Sasuke looked at the plate in question before he glared at Maro. "Seriously?"

"No, really!" Maro insisted. "He was right by the radish on one second then the next he wasn't!"

Sasuke slumped against his chair and waved for the waiters to get the damn snails out of there. "The next time Itachi has a party I am hiding in my closet."

Naruto nodded and patted Sasuke's hand sympathetically. "Don't worry, I'll be there with you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **It's been a while! Sorry about that, my friend **jellydonut16 **got me hooked on Black Butler and I started a story on that and just couldn't put it down. Anyways, here is the third chapter :D I did realize we saw little of Ryumeki so now there is more of him here. I have a feeling that some of you will go crazy over the ending of this chapter. ;)

While I still have you here, can you guys tell me if I made Naruto's waist line too big? I mean, is it all right for him cause he's on the fit side of things :D

_Tambayan _is like your regular hang-out.

**Special thanks to: ****jellydonut16**, **Dragon77**, and **monkeylovermarie6. **I hope you guys like this chapter too! :D

* * *

The moment they pulled over Naruto was equal parts amused and equal parts surprised at seeing the none-stylish and none-fancy diner. He looked at his passenger and even looked to his side to see Ryumeki and Maro's car just to make sure he wasn't lost. After all, he had to consult google multiple times just to make sure he didn't take a wrong turn and get them to Nagoya. Sasuke would have a freak and while on that topic had he simply asked Sasuke for directions really bad questions would have popped up between them. That he was sure of.

When Sasuke unbuckled his seat belt and proceeded to open his door, Naruto managed to snap himself out of it and followed after the ravenhead. Saying that he was surprised was pretty much an understatement. Menma and his friends ate in places like _this_?

"Well come on!" Maro cried as he stepped into the open doors with Ryumeki and Sasuke right behind him.

Naruto took another moment to openly gawk at the cheesy fast food restaurant. The walls were linoleum black and white and the seats were red and supposedly covered with leather. There were many open and closed booths obviously ready for big gatherings- the typical family'n'friends area. He stared at all these things for a moment and then scolded himself for yet again judging the Namikaze boy and his friends. So much for keeping his promises.

The other three he had come with were now settled in a booth with their menus open and their eyes glued to them. He wondered if they noticed just how long it had taken him to will his feet to move so that he could sit. Hopefully not since he would have a hard time trying to explain how alienated he felt in a place they usually ate in.

"I know what I'm getting." Ryumeki announced as he snapped his menu shut. Almost as if on automatic, his arm moved to lay over Maro's shoulders and the shorter boy didn't seem to mind it.

Instead, Maro turned his head to look at him, lips pursed. "You're going with the usual again? Aren't you getting tired of it?"

"Nah." Ryumeki shrugged, his fingers now playing with the other male's white hair. "I like the usual. I like routine. Change is too difficult to deal with. Let's stick with what we know."

Sasuke snorted from where he sat beside Naruto, his menu open in front of him. He pointedly stared at it before addressing the Hotori boy. "Maro, spell boring."

"Well," Maro drawled smirking. He dodged the light smack that Ryumeki aimed at his head and happily spelled, "R-Y-U-M-E-K-I."

"Precisely." Sasuke nodded before he too snapped his menu shut. He smirked at the mockingly glaring brunette in front of him and announced, "I think I'm going to go with today's special."

"The special?" Ryumeki looked at the bright sign boards to their left and raised an eyebrow at the Uchiha boy. "You're eating an entire load of French fries and spare ribs? You, who also says that killing poor cows should be considered murder?"

"Not murder if you control how much you eat." Sasuke replied leisurely.

"You aren't making sense at all." Ryumeki scowled crossing his arms over his chest. "And aren't you allergic to watermelon?"

Sasuke waved that off. "I'll get another drink. Geez Ryumeki when did you turn into my diet inspector? I already have one of those and you don't anything like Dr. Mashiro. For one thing you don't have boobs."

"Leave him alone." Maro said, lightly knocking Ryumeki on the head. He then followed with a smirk at the Uchiha's direction. "If you get fat don't forget that my beau told you so and when you wake up in the morning and realize you just ate an entire calf who will never get the chance to grow into a cow don't you dare come crying to us."

"I'll try." Sasuke deadpanned rather dryly before he turned to Naruto. "Know what you're getting yet?"

It took a moment for Naruto to realize that he was being spoken too. That little exchange between the three… They were so comfortable with each other. He was now sure that Sasuke didn't mind saying crass words. He said 'fuck' to Naruto during their first conversation although maybe him being Menma was playing a huge factor on that. "Uhh, I don't know. I'm not that hungry actually, I mean we just came from lunch and it's only been half an hour since then."

"No." Maro chided. "_That wasn't lunch_. That was hell courtesy of Uchiha Itachi and his little brother Sasuke served piping hot with snails on the side. And I was watching you Namikaze you didn't touch a single thing on your plate! You played around with the food sure but you weren't putting any of it in your mouth."

The ravenhead bristled and retorted before Naruto could say anything. "It's not like I wanted to go and will you drop it with the snails already? You didn't even touch one either. At least Menma's being a man about this and not whining like you are, you big baby."

Maro raised his fork looking all too ready to jab it at the other male before his boyfriend intervened.

"Maro, bad. We don't need any visits to the hospital right now." Ryumeki turned to Sasuke as he flagged a waitress sure that Naruto would pick something to eat eventually. "You on the other hand, don't get mad, but you have Menma on a leash. He does whatever you say."

"_Hey._" Naruto complained on behalf of Menma as he looked away from a rather tempting food plate. No man wanted to be on someone's leash, least of all another man. "I just happen to be a very good friend who will be there for you when you need me the most."

"Yeah," Maro rolled mauve colored eyes and echoed the word with a scoff. "_Friend."_

Naruto dropped the conversation and let Ryumeki put in orders for him, with him deciding to go with the 'usual' or whatever it was that Menma usually got just to be safe. When they were all alone again conversation started but not as lively as it had been a while back as everyone had pulled out their phones which were all, (big surprise) Iphones.

Not wanting to risk being set apart from the group, Naruto pulled out his own phone and idly played with it. He didn't open any games but he didn't know what else to do. The other three with him seemed insanely busy and he wondered if this was what these type of people considered as 'hanging out'.

Back in the Philippines at the dinner table, cellphones were prohibited to be mentioned even more so brought out. _Lola_ Tsunade would probably confiscate it before you could unlock it. Here though... Japan truly was a different place, or was it like this everywhere else? He couldn't begin to fathom how people talked to each other when they had gadgets stuck in their hands and their eyes glued on said gadgets. How can you have meaningful conversations if you're too busy playing flappy bird? Like, there's a time and place for everything. The dinner table was not meant to be used as a _tambayan_. It's meant for family meals and family moments.

"Ya know Sasuke." Ryumeki said as he turned his phone to face them. Naruto was glad that they at least still talked. "Drunk Arthur screaming 'idiot' sounds just like a younger version of you. When you were ten or eleven and just hitting puberty."

Sasuke's hand almost automatically swiped at the brunette in front of him causing everyone on the table to laugh as red quite noticeably rushed to his cheeks. "It does not, Sugiyama!"

"I beg to differ!" Ryumeki laughed, but not as loudly as Maro while Naruto simply watched them. He could not relate... at all. Who was Arthur?

"Well _you_ sound like Alfred." Sasuke said in a matter of fact tone that had Maro laughing even more.

"F-Fitting then?" He choked out between giggles that Naruto just notice were sort of high pitched. Not like a girl's laugh mind, but more like a _child's. _He now wondered just how old Hotori Maro was. When he got home he was going to check those files. He should have asked Asa for a more thorough clean-up on these two. He did know that he was meeting with them after all.

Conversation seemed to sizzle into a halt again as the three returned to their phones and Naruto realized that they weren't even questioning his silence. He returned to playing with his phone for the lack of something to do as well as wondering just how far the rest of the world deteriorated when it came to talking to each other during meals. Then after that he casually let his eyes wander around the diner.

Naruto only now realized that it was a very nice place. The travelling homesick Americans would really appreciate it as it felt a little bit like their home. He wondered too if there was a Filipino restaurant anywhere near them now. He would kill for some _Sisig _or _Sinigang_. Still looking around he realized that by the many times Sasuke was cursing quite heatedly underneath his breath beside him that the ravenhead was in fact not playing around but was handling what looked to be business. Naruto pursed his lips and wondered just how long Sasuke's file would be. It seems the ravenhead had many secrets that he was not keen to share.

No matter. With Fuge, you had no secrets, unless you belong behind bars.

The waitress brought in the food just when Naruto was running out of things to do on his phone (typing useless notes could only take up someone's attention for so long) and he was surprised to find his own stomach growling in appreciation. Namikaze Menma had good taste when it came to American cuisine. Naruto eyed the baby back ribs appreciatively as well as the mini-mountain of mash potatoes swimming in gravy. Almost a little too happily, he kissed his very nice thirty inch waistline goodbye.

He could always go jogging anyways. Or something.

* * *

"I thought I had school today." Was the first thing out of Naruto's mouth when he came down the stairs only to see both Ino and Deidara lounging on the couch. The TV was on and what was sure was breakfast slowly being pieced together was on the table and the cook was in the kitchen bringing out more food.

He stared at it because it looked enough to feed an entire army, not the three people (plus the cook maybe) that he knew would be eating that morning. Ino's quite unenthusiastic answer to his rather loud announcement was, "Skip it."

Naruto paused where he was rubbing his eyes. He'd had a long night with the files as he read through what seemed to fifteen pages for Sasuke alone and an even six pages for Ryumeki then eight pages on Maro. He didn't even stop to think of how much time he devoted on mulling over the information head read but it was a lot. He'd seen the clock before he conked out and it had been sometime around one in the morning. Hence he wasn't sure if he was hearing what he was hearing. "What?"

"Skip it." Ino echoed. She then heaved herself off of the couch and leaned over one of Enko's cribs. The Namikaze baby had one in each room except for Deidara's, Naruto's and probably Papa Namikaze's room too. Evidently the little stay at home baby liked to be in his cribs almost all the time since he neither fancied walking or crawling. He had his moments or so Ino says but he liked being on his back most of the time.

Naruto caught sight of the nuzzling baby and noticed that he was on the brink of sleep and consciousness. His mother handed him a warmed bottle and he happily sucked away apparently dead to the world. Idly he wondered if sleeping patterns was hereditary because the only other person he knew that dropped like a light that way was Shikamaru. Wouldn't that be interesting…

Being mindful of the baby, his voice lowered rather drastically but with more inflection than before. "_What?_"

"_Skip it._" Ino repeated chipper. She grazed her baby's cheek with a finger before she straightened up and put her hands on her hips. Naruto froze and was reminded of all the times _Lola _Tsunade did that. Women were scary sometimes… even ones younger than him. "It's not like you're learning anything new since it's remedial today plus none of your friends is gonna be there because of the orientation and it's also not like you've been going to class the past month. Just skip it today and go tomorrow."

Naruto continued to stare at the blonde. Did he dare invoke her wrath on him further more? "Hence the reason that I maybe need to attend class now?"

"No." Ino said. "You need to help your darling sister clear out the attic because most of the crap in it is yours. I've been wanting to do it for a while now but I don't know which stuff to keep and which stuff to give away."

If it weren't for the baby he would have probably screamed bloody murder about now. Naruto turned to look at Deidara who was staring at the TV. "Why can't Deidara help you?"

"Can't." the older blonde declared.

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

Deidara looked away from the TV and stared Naruto right in the eye. His blonde hair was in a rather thick bun today seeing as the sun was shining straight into the room. It was February so it was still cold but thankfully the sun was no longer a mere stranger and graced their presence rather often. "I just can't. Besides it's Monday and it's my Johnny holiday so you can't make me do anything. Sibling rule."

Naruto's eye twitched. What the hell was a sibling rule? And a Johnny holiday? He looked at the TV and saw what he thought was Pirates of The Caribbean with subtitles. He now wondered if the siblings were capable of speaking English, because _he _could and if they were watching a movie with subtitles then he sort of doubted it. _Diyos ko_ he had so much to learn!

"Cool it Dei, it's time for breakfast anyways so you have to put Johnny on hold." Ino called from where she was sitting on the table inevitably snapping him out of his thoughts. She was rearranging the plates on the table, pushing a plate of rice balls by one plate, then she pushed bowls of miso onto the trays on the table. There was also an assortment of pickles and what looked like eggs… _is that what Japanese people called omurice?_

Deidara let his head loll against the back of his chair, sighing quietly. "Food of Johnny. Food or Johnny. Food wins. Damn."

Ino laughed and pulled back Deidara's chair for him and Naruto followed suit, sitting across from Ino. There was an empty chair beside him and he wondered if it was for the cook. When Ino thanked everyone for the food and began to eat, he realized that the chair belonged to Papa Namikaze, who was currently in Paris on a business meeting.

As he ate he listened to Ino and Deidara discuss yet again the supposed vacation they would be taking and he couldn't help but smile around the mouthful of rice he was eating. This was what eating was supposed to be like. Good food, good company, and good conversation. Not gadgets, and facebook, and scrolling, and chatting with the person sitting right next to you.

Enko was sitting up and staring at them by the time Naruto was halfway through with his plate. Ino smirked at the way her son's hair seemed to stick out everywhere like the tufts of a small pineapple's head and said, "Don't I have the most adorable baby in the world?"

"That's cause he's related to us," Deidara said smirking at Naruto.

"Oh please." Ino scoffed as she went and got Enko out of the crib and made her way back to the table. He was placed on her lap and allowed a few mouthfuls of sticky rice which he seemed to like a lot. "I think I might let him try to eat something else apart from rice soon. Like the eggs maybe. They're soft enough."

"He's almost two." Naruto pointed out. He knew that much about baby Enko now with much thanks to Shikamaru. "About that, what are we doing for his birthday?"

"I want it big."

"Thought as much." Deidara sighed. "This is gonna hurt Dad's bank account isn't it?"

"Hey." Ino complained as she started bouncing Enko on her lap. "It's not every day the littlest man of the house turns two! He'd like a big party with all the other little kids. He doesn't get to spend that much time with them after all."

"It's why I said you should take him to a day care Ino." Deidara said. "That way he gets to spend time away from you and with other little kids his age. He needs that type of separation or he's never going to do anything without you and by the time he's in high school he'll still be wanting his mommy."

"You're exaggerating." Ino said.

"No I'm not. And you know it." Deidara put his chopsticks down. "Ino, what are you so afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anything." Ino replied. "I just don't think he's ready for that kind of separation yet. He needs me."

"The way I see it, I think you need him." Deidara shook his head. "Ino this could be bad for his social and people skills. He needs to get out."

"He's barely two years old!"

"Exactly! He needs to make friends with kids his age."

Naruto leaned back against his chair and watched this happen. He knew that siblings fought, he's seen it often enough but he couldn't help but wonder if this was healthy or not. The first night he was with the Namikaze siblings they were so happy and they moved around each other really well. Right now they were having a shout fest with a baby in the premises.

He looked at Enko who had a fist stuck in his mouth, a few grains of rice sticking to his face. He seemed untouched with what was going on and he was even staring at Naruto with wide cobalt blue eyes, just… just staring.

Hesitantly, he raised his arms out and Enko squirmed to get out of Ino's arms and into his even with the table in between them. Ino noticed despite her verbal spat with Deidara and gently passed the baby into Naruto's arms. There he played with the buttons on Naruto's pajama shirt and even tried eating one.

"No." He scolded lightly. He chuckled when Enko pouted awfully adorable and if he wasn't sure swallowing a button could kill him he would have given it to him. He tried to do what Ino was doing and jiggled his legs so that Enko was bouncing up and down. The redheaded baby was pre-occupied with trying to get more rice.

Naruto held onto him and just… held onto him for a moment. Menma was missing this. What Ino and Deidara were fighting about was Enko's future and it concerned Enko's well being. He was sure that Menma should have a say in this but _he _wasn't Menma, and he was very well aware of that.

He was Naruto and he shouldn't have an opinion on whether or not it was a good idea to send Enko into a daycare because he wasn't a part of this family. He may look like he did but he wasn't…

* * *

Ryumeki walked around his family house as he got started on breakfast. It wouldn't be anything fancy since he was cooking for one. His brothers were all out spending time with their partners and his mother and father were on a cruise ship going through Europe.

His phone was on the counter away from where he was busily making pancakes just in case Maro woke up and texted him. Unlike Ryumeki, his beau hated being alone, it was just something he grew up with.

He was living with his family too but his little sister had a habit of locking herself away in her room and his parents were usually at work at this time. It was why he loved taking Maro out rather than letting him stay at home.

Speaking of going out... _Menma was being awfully silent last night. Not even reacting when Sasuke was flustered and on the boiling point of stabbing Maro in the eye. _

And that was extremely odd. There were many things said about Namikaze Menma and Uchiha Sasuke's relationship. Such as you couldn't possibly define it. The two acted like they were best friends, that was obvious much but they were interested in each other _physically _however neither one wanted a committed relationship.

The closest thing to a label that they were going to get was 'friends with benefits' but Menma often said that he looked at Sasuke as he would look at his brother which was just plain absurd in Ryumeki's eyes because if that was the case then he was willingly fucking his brother? Incest? Ugh. Insert shudder here.

That matter aside Menma was known to jump to Sasuke's rescue whenever he needed it and whether he wanted to be rescued or not was never up for debate. Last night though...

He wasn't sure what he was doing, purposely riling Sasuke like that. Teasing him on his food choices when he knew that it was Itachi who was bothered with 'mass murdering cows' (but he was perfectly fine with slaughtering snails).

Maybe it was because of how... _odd _Menma had been acting last night. Menma was Menma, quiet and kept to himself but when the group started bickering like they had last night he usually got into that himself.

And when Sasuke started saying crass things like 'boobs', well, Menma would usually scold him and give him a light smack on the head or something. But last night, nothing. Menma just sat there, staring at them. Or rather, he was stuck in his thoughts.

Ryumeki sighed and flipped one of his pancakes to the other side. Maybe he was just caught up on the things that made him disappear in the first place. What had happened to Menma that made him poof from the face of the earth that way? Was it something with his family? His friends? Was it Sasuke?

Of course not, if it was then they wouldn't be hanging out like that.

Ryumeki sighed and turned the stove off and sucked on some leftover pancake batter as he tried to assembled his thoughts.

Maybe he should just have a talk with Menma and figure out what was wrong.


End file.
